A broad class of benzoylphenylurea insecticides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,356. European Patent Application 263438 discloses that certain N-substituted phenyl-N'-substituted benzoyl-N-methylureas are highly safe to beneficial aquatic Crustacea while exhibiting equal or superior insecticidal activities to non-alkylated analogs. Hexaflumuron, a commercially significant benzoylphenylurea, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,405. Use of hexaflumuron in methods of controlling termites is disclosed in WO 93/24011. Use of hexaflumuron to control cockroaches is disclosed in WO 94/03066. The compound N-3,5-dichloro-2-fluoro-4-(1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropoxy)phenyl!-N'-(2,6- difluorobenzoyl)urea is disclosed in DE 3827133 and European Patent Application A 243,790, but there was no disclosure of the unexpected activity of the compound against cockroaches, ants, fleas, and termites.
We have discovered that certain benzoylphenylurea compounds, some of which are novel, have substantially greater activity against cockroaches, ants, fleas, and termites than would have been expected based on comparison with the closest prior art, i.e., hexaflumuron. Another significant property of the novel compounds of the invention is their surprisingly low toxicity to Daphnia.